Chime

Steam has launched a treasure hunt game that asks players to complete game-related objectives to be in with a chance of winning 100 games. There are also a few Team Fortress 2 hats up for grabs. Details follow.

Every day Steam will throw up a new set of objectives. These tasks can be anything from setting up a Steam avatar to in-game tasks based on Steam achievements. Every two days, 20 people who have completed one objective will win the top 5 games on their wishlist. Each objective completed acts as another entry into the draw, so completing all four daily objectives will improve your chances.

From the look of today's tasks it seems that the games involved in each objective will be offered at a cheaper price. Today Ruse, Poker Night at the Inventory and Chime are all on sale.

If you complete 10 objectives over the next few weeks you'll be entered into a grand prize draw on December 20th. If you win that you'll win 100 games of your choosing.

As for the TF2 hats, there are three on offer, and each can be unlocked by completing a certain number of objectives.

For more information about the give-away and a list of the current objectives, check out the Steam Treasure Hunt page. If you decide to go for ten objectives and a shot at the 100 game prize, it's worth noting that you have to make sure you log into Steam on December 20th to be eligible. Will you be playing? How many objectives will you plump for?

Chime provides you with a grid. Sometimes perfectly rectangular, other times broken up into pieces or segmented with unusable sections. Onto this grid you place a variety of different shaped pieces in an effort to form a three-by-three or bigger block. Stack more pieces onto a block and the block gets bigger, increasing score, coverage, and multiplier. Once a block’s completed, the area it occupied gets covered, and when you reach 100% coverage you get to reset the level and start again.

The cleverness comes in with the music. Each level is a different track made by some of the biggest names in electronic music, from Moby to Philip Glass. As you play, a line reads the level, producing the music and finalising blocks. Your pieces generate the melody, and their coverage adds texture and depth to the piece. In theory. In reality, you’re far too busy making blocks and watching the clock to pay attention to all this intelligent design.

It’s only when you venture into the Free Mode that you can actually experiment. It’s music-making by proxy: you’re never directly able to play a note. Instead, you attempt to play the game in such a way that it’ll come up with something different. It’s like creating an Audiosurf level and then listening to it, and hoping it comes out good.

Except you’re locked into the single song, so it will always sound good, while at the same time restricting what you can influence. And being limited to just six levels, Chime, while smart and interesting, feels like a demo for an as-yet unmade game where your music library provides the levels.